On April 4 and April 5, 2017 a record number of teachers/public officers were the recipients of well-needed induction sessions which took place at the Teachers’ Resource Centre. The sessions which were organized by Public Administration, were held to familiarize the public officers with the Anguilla Public Service, its practices and systems of operations, to cultivate and/or nurture favourable attitudes about the service and, consequently, to inspire the officers to pursue excellence.
The officers were drawn from various ministries/departments in the Anguilla Public Service including Education, Immigration, Probation, Radio Anguilla, Department of Information Technology, HM Prison, Statistics, Lands and Surveys, Physical Planning, General Post Office and the Department of Infrastructure. The aim was to ensure that as many new officers, as possible, were given the opportunity to share in and benefit from this very important ‘information sharing exercise’.
This year there were also brief presentations from Ms Cherise Gumbs, Secretary, Anguilla Teachers’ Union (ATU), Mr Steve McDowall, a representative from the Anguilla Civil Service Association (ACSA) and Ms Susan Hodge who represented the Department of Disaster Management. Participants were urged to be part of the associations and gain the benefits that members usually derive from those organizations.
Other presentations included topics such as Understanding Government and the Role of the Anguilla Public Service, Policies, Rules and Regulations in the Anguilla Public Service, Who is Who in the Service, Expectations of teachers/officers, Communicating with Stakeholders, Compensation and Benefits, Dignity, Worth and Human Rights, Pensions, Recruitment, and Professionalism in the Workplace.
The participants were advised that they also had a very important role to play in assisting the Anguilla Public Service to carry out its mandate and that they could influence policy from any level. Additionally, they were reminded of the Anguilla Public Service Leadership Statement and were further advised to embrace the elements of the statement and to live out the values embedded therein – inspired about the work that they performed, connected in their engagement and empowering one another to deliver.
The main facilitators for the sessions were Mr Perin Bradley – Honourable Deputy Governor; Mrs Kathleen Rogers – Permanent Secretary, Public Administration; Mrs Rosanna Browne, Research and Development Officer, Social Security; Mrs Lana Horsford-Harrigan – Director, Human Resource Management; Mrs Ornette Edwards-Gumbs and Mrs C Charmaine Rogers, Deputy Directors, Human Resource Management; Mrs Angelina Carty, Centre Manager, Eleos Centre; and Mrs Monifa Brooks-Gumbs, Accountant, Public Service Pension Fund.
